California lawmaker calls out woman’s double ballots as Gavin Newsom scrambles to secure polls

Claims of potential voting irregularities in California spread rapidly online this week after a state lawmaker shared allegations that duplicate ballots were sent to a woman in Riverside County ahead of the June 2 primary.

The widely shared post came from Carl DeMaio, a member of the California State Assembly representing District 75, who posted images appearing to show two separate ballots mailed to the same Riverside County voter, each with different voter identification numbers.

Critics of California’s mail-in voting system seized on the post as further evidence of what they describe as systemic weaknesses in the state’s election administration, including outdated voter registration records and the risk of duplicate mailings going undetected by voters or officials.

In a notable victory for the San Diego Assemblymember, a Republican-supported voter ID ballot initiative has officially qualified for the Nov. 3 ballot.

DeMaio has been a persistent advocate for requiring voters to provide evidence of citizenship to cast a legal ballot.

This milestone follows years of effort by Republicans to implement more rigorous voting requirements within the liberal state of California.

Against this backdrop, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 73 into law Wednesday, immediately restricting law enforcement officers from taking custody of ballots or election equipment from county election officials.

The measure was fast-tracked ahead of the primary after a confrontation in Riverside County, where Sheriff Chad Bianco seized more than 600,000 ballots earlier this year from the county registrar’s office while investigating potential voter fraud.

Bianco said the action was intended to determine whether improper voting had occurred, though state officials maintain there was no evidence the ballots were illegally cast or altered.

Newsom defended the new law in pointed remarks before signing it.

“We have to step up, and we have to draw the line. We have to clarify the rules of engagement,” Newsom said. “It’s a warning to the folks out there that think they can do the bidding of the Trump administration.”

The governor and Democratic lawmakers originally introduced the legislation amid broader concerns over possible federal involvement in California elections, as tensions continue with President Donald Trump.

But the Riverside County ballot seizure accelerated the push in Sacramento, turning what was initially framed as a preventative measure into an immediate response to an escalating dispute over ballot custody and law enforcement authority.

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Under the new law, county registrars are prohibited from turning over ballots or voting equipment to law enforcement agencies, even when presented with a search warrant.

Officials say that under the statute, Riverside County Registrar Art Tinoco would not have been permitted to comply with Bianco’s request.

The controversy comes as California continues to face heightened scrutiny over election administration, including concerns about ballot handling practices, voter roll maintenance, and long vote-counting timelines that critics argue weaken public confidence in the system.

In Humboldt County, election officials recently discovered 596 sealed ballots at the bottom of a locked drop box following the most recent election, raising additional questions about ballot security and chain-of-custody procedures.

In Los Angeles County, a longtime signature gatherer for ballot initiatives agreed to plead guilty after prosecutors said she paid individuals, including homeless people on Skid Row, to register to vote.

The president has repeatedly criticized California’s mail voting system, arguing it invites widespread abuse and undermines election confidence.

“You have a really rigged vote in California,” Trump said earlier this month. “You have all the mail-in ballots, everything else. Very hard to win because the elections are very dishonest. If we had Jesus Christ come down and count the votes, I would have won California, because I do great with Hispanics. But it’s a rigged vote.”